


The Rare Second Chance

by unladenswallow



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Ending, Female Harry Potter, Master of Death Harry Potter, Young Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:47:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22083625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unladenswallow/pseuds/unladenswallow
Summary: Raising both hands, she pulled on the broken magic of the oath connected to him and held the twisting angry red magic for him to see.“I curse you Emhyr var Emeris. You and your agents shall seek but never find, look but never see, reach but never touch, listen but never hear from Princess Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon in this life or the next. She will never again call you father, she will never be your legacy or that of Nilfgaards. She is barred from you. So mote it be.”Instead of choosing to go back, Hari decided to go onwards at Kings Cross Station only to find herself in a new world, with a new family, that she is more than willing to protect against all who would seek to harm them.
Relationships: Emhyr var Emreis/Harry Potter, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg, minor Geralt of Rivia/Harry Potter
Comments: 10
Kudos: 187





	The Rare Second Chance

Queen Calanthe was deeply troubled by what had occurred. Though it spoke of destiny, and both herself and her daughter were to marry those they love, she felt as though she had just opened the door to a great evil. Nightmares of fire, war and the destruction of Cintra had plagued her night after night. Normally, she would cast such dreams as a result of either bad food the night before or anxiety about the future. But these dreams spoke to a deeper part of herself where the power in her blood ran. They reminded her of the foresight of her mother and how she described it when it woke within her. With her mother long dead, Queen Calanthe knew of only one person that she could turn to for advice. Her mother’s former student, her old childhood friend, and the one sorceress that she was willing to trust. Sorceress Hari of Cintra, also known as the Outcast Sorceress. 

When Calanthe was a girl of 7 winters, her mother had woken from a foresight vision in the middle of the night. She rode from the castle without telling anyone where she was going or taking any of her guards with her. The whole castle had been thrown into a panic. It wasn’t until late the next night that the Queen came slowly riding back to the city, holding in front of her the unconscious, naked body of a teenage girl wrapped tightly in the Queen’s cloak. The King had been furious, demanding to know who the girl was and why the Queen had left in the middle of the night to fetch her. 

Calanthe still remembered the bone-chilling glare her mother had given her father and her imperious demand that the girl be taken and cared for before she would say a word. It was then that Calanthe’s nanny had caught her out of bed and carried her from the courtroom. The next day, it was if all the anger that been drained from her father, and both her parents did everything they could to bring the mystery girl back to full health.

It wasn’t until a month later that Calanthe was successful in sneaking into the Healers Hall that she met the mystery girl. It was a meeting that she would never forget. The very air around the weakened girl seemed to vibrate with power that was both cold and chilling, but warm and full of life at the same time. Calanthe had met sorcerers and sorceresses before, but none had never made her feel such a way. It had scared her at the time, stopping her from moving for fear of gaining the girls attention. But it had been too late, she had already been noticed.

The girl had turned around, her movements slow and painful, but had smiled warmly at Calanthe and beckoned her closer. With that welcoming gesture, the piercing cold evaporated, and the warmth filled her, erasing any lingering chill.

“You must be Princess Calanthe. Your mother had told me to expect you soon, that your curiosity wouldn’t keep you at bay for long,” she had whispered in a hoarse voice that sounded painful, “I’m curious to meet you as well your Highness.”

That simple interaction had marked the beginning of a friendship that would endure for years on end. Eventually, Hari had to go to Aretuza and be trained as the official court sorceress for Cintra. From the letters Calanthe had received, Hari was excelling far beyond anything the school had seen before but was refusing to bow to the demands and obligations placed upon her. 

Apparently, Aretuza was a poor magical school in comparison to a place called ‘Hogwarts’ (which Calanthe had thought was a brilliant name). Hari had refused to be ‘reborn’ as a sorceress and had been cast out of the Aretuza, never to receive aid from them. That in turn had the Cintran Royal Family turning from the Brotherhood, and declaring them as obsolete. Something that had the other Royals considering their approach to the Brotherhood as well.

Hari had not been at the events of her daughter’s engagement. Instead, she had been visiting the library at Toussaint seeking information on some magical matter. It was only when the dreams began that Calanthe had sent word seeking the return of her magical advisor in all haste. She had sent the messenger two days ago, and as she watched her daughter talk and laugh with her soon to be husband from a window from the sorceress’s tower, she felt that Hari’s return could not be quick enough.

“Be careful frowning like that, the wind will change, and you will have a frown for a face for the rest of your life. Then what will you do?” came the familiar voice from behind her.

Rolling her eyes, but unable to entirely suppress her smile, Calanthe turned to face her old friend.

“I think that old story has reliably been proven false by now, do you not agree?” she asked, watching the sorceress put her bag down and take off her gloves. As always, Hari had not aged a day. She still looked like the green-eyed, black-haired beauty that she remembered from her early childhood.

“Maybe, but it only needs to happen once and then you’ll become Queen Calanthe, the frowning lioness of Cintra. You’ll never be taken seriously again after that.”   
  
Walking over to where Calanthe was spying down on her daughter and future son, Hari’s face soon begun to match the frown that had previously been on the Queen’s face.

“His face. It is familiar to me, but I don’t know from where. Who is he?” the sorceress asked perturbed.

“Duny, the Urcheon of Erlenwald apparently,” the Queen replied and also looked down at the pair below them.

“Is that so?” Hari murmured thoughtfully, “I think I would like a word with the young man when it is possible. But first, tell me why you have had me come back with such haste.”

* * *

  
Hari could tell that he didn’t like magic. From the way he carefully walked around the magical items in her room, to the subconscious glares he would cast at the magical tomes on the table, it all spoke of a distaste for the magical craft.

“Will you tell me about it?” she asked, coming further into her workroom to gain his attention.

The man, Duny, spun quickly around to face her, his body language showing that he was ready to move at a moment’s notice.

“I beg your pardon m’lady,” he asked, watching her warily as she crossed the room and sat down in an armchair next to her fireplace.

“Please, have a seat,” Hari said and waved her hand to the empty armchair across from her, “and I meant, will you tell me why it is you are so averse to magic?”.

It was impressive how quickly the man shut down his facial expressions and restrained his body language. Calmly, he walked across from her and sat down in the empty armchair. Silence fell between the two as each carefully studied the other.

“What is it that makes you think that I am averse to magic?” he asked, being the first to break the silence. 

“I suspect it was the way you radiated hostility when you entered the room that tipped me off,” Hari replied casually as she began to pour tea for them both, “but who knows, I could be wrong.”

Duny watched as the sorceress took a drink of the tea she had made but made no move to pick up the cup she had offered him.

“I have lived many years of my life under a curse cast by a sorcerer. I no longer trust those who wield magic.”

“And why were you cursed by a sorcerer?”

“You would have to ask him for his reason.”

“What is his name, and I shall.”

“I’m afraid I did not catch the man’s name as I was too busy being cursed at the time.”

“Pity. Well, I guess we can’t always be aware of our surroundings.”

Once again, the tense silence fell between the two. Each trying to out stubborn the other into breaking the silence first. This time the loser being Hari.

“So, you no longer trust those who wield magic. Does this mean you don’t trust Princess Pavetta?” she asked casually and took note when the man didn’t so much as flinch.

“Pavetta has a magical bloodline which protects her. I do not believe I will be in any possible harm from it.” 

“Ah, I see the Princess misunderstood my lessons after all. I thought that might be the case,” Hari mused thoughtfully, “Yes the Princess has a bloodline that allows her to access Elder magic, and the way she has interacted with that magic has been to protect herself and those she loves. But make no mistake, that is not all it can do, and the Princess and her family are not the only ones to wield it.”

To demonstrate, she held up a hand with the same green glow that had surrounded Pavetta when she used her bloodline.

“What I am concerned about is if you and Pavetta have children, who may very well use this magic in different ways, how would you react? If you are averse magic, could you love you and treat well any children who use it?”

“I would not mistreat any child of mine.” He said unflinchingly.

“We will see in due time I guess,” Hari mused unconvinced. As she only knew too well, blood relation didn’t mean a person would treat a magical child well. 

“If that is all my lady.” He said, standing up and began walking towards the door.

“I was in Toussaint when your engagement occurred,” Hari said halting Duny from going further, “I must say that you take after your father more than your mother. Your cousin also worries about your welfare.”

Hesitantly, he spun around to face her. 

“Yes, I know who you are Emhyr var Emeris, the true heir to the Nilfgaardian throne. It took me a moment to place you, but the resemblance to the portrait of your father was more pronounced upon meeting you. So, if you will please sit back down, we still have much to talk about.”

He did not move, instead continued to examine Hari warily, as if she were about to leap up and shout out his identity from the windows and he would need to intercept her.

“How about a deal then, truth for a truth. I shall ask a question of you, and you may ask a question of me. If a question is asked that we do not wish to answer, then we may pass on that question.”

Emhyr snorted at the suggestion and crossed his arms as if to defend himself from any further questions.

“And how can I be assured that you are telling the truth?”

Standing up, Hari walked over to her cupboard and pulled out two large metal bracelets. With a flick of her wrist she threw one at him (and was only slightly disappointed when he easily caught it).

“I’m sure you would have seen these before in your father’s court, they are Bonds of Truth. Apparently, we can’t call them bracelets because that is too feminine. Anyway, when worn, they will glow when a person who wears them lies. If a person tells the truth, they will not react.” 

Putting the bracelet on, she sat back down in her armchair and looked at him with raised an eyebrow, silently challenging the young Prince to do the same. 

In response, Emhyr sat down, put on the bracelet and dismissively waved for her to proceed. 

Hari had met many egotistical royals throughout her years at court, the man before her was the first to succeed in irking her enough that she was tempted to turn him into a ferret, al la fake Moody style.

“What is your purpose here in Cintra?” she asked first.

“I was given a foretelling that my curse would be lifted in this region. As you can see, it was correct.”

The bracelet on his wrist did not glow, but Hari could feel that he was not entirely truthful, that he was holding back in his answer. Something within her was warning her that there was something wrong, that he was a danger. It reminded her of when Malfoy was acting shifty and ended up letting death eaters into Hogwarts. Hari was right then, and she knew she was right now.

“You are known as the Outcast Sorceress, for what reason were you given that name?”.

Hari paused before answering, musing on whether or not to tell the Prince before her the whole truth or just elements of it. The whole truth may appeal to the man but would reveal more than she was comfortable about herself.

“The Brotherhood of Sorcerers is a bunch of power-hungry individuals, clamouring for prestige and influence over each other and those they see below them, which includes the royalty they supposedly serve. They believe that they must do this ‘for the greater good of all’, but I have yet to see this greater good they claim to accomplish. Upon my graduation from Aretuza, I refused to be reborn into the Brotherhood or acknowledge their orders for me to achieve in Cintra. I am loyal to Queen Calanthe and the people of Cintra. I walk my own path, not that of the Brotherhood. For these reasons, I was cast out of the Brotherhood, never to receive aid or support from them again.”

After watching her bracelet and seeing that it did not glow, Emhyr nodded for her to ask the next question.

“Are you any threat, or do you plan to pose any threat to Cintra, its’ people, or the Cintran Royal Family?”.

“I swear that I am not threat to Cintra, its’ people, or the Cintran Royal Family.” he answered calmly before picking up the cup of tea and taking a small sip of it, “You can use the magic of the Cintran Royal Bloodline. Are you a bastard child of their line?”

“You are a man with very little tact I see,” Hari laughed,” no, I am not a royal bastard, and I am of no relation to the Cintran Royal Family. I was just taught how to access and use the same magic by the previous Queen. Now, for my question, are you willing to swear a magical oath to Queen Calanthe of what you just told me?”

“What would be involved if I were to do such a thing?. This does not count as my question.”

Hari gave the nod to his disclaimer and let him know how it would occur.

“The Queen would use her magic to bind you to your oath that you swear to not pose a threat to Cintra, its’ people or the Royal Family. So long as you do not break your oath, nothing will happen. It would be as if it never occurred. But, if you break your oath, then the consequences will be chosen by the Queen. They range from being cast out, being stripped of the throne, or being cursed.”

“So long as a provision for self-defence is included I see no issue with performing such an oath.”

“Excellent, because refusing was not an option if you still wish to marry the Princess. Now, your turn for a question, I believe?”. 

This time, she was the one who got to give a dismissive wave for him to continue. 


End file.
